News stories from Monday March 26, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Egypt and Israel signed a treaty at the White House after nearly 31 years of hostility. About 1,500 guests and millions watching television saw President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin put their signatures on the Arabic, Hebrew and English versions of the first peace pact between Israel and an Arab country. President Carter, who was credited by both leaders with making the accord possible, signed as a witness for the United States.
It was a day of paradox in Washington. The triumphal treaty signing took place against a background of uncertainty about the future. As peace was celebrated at the White House, 1,000 Arab-Americans demonstrated nearby, denouncing the accord and shouting "Down With Israel." Palestinians and other Arabs reacted angrily against the treaty signing, vowing revenge, staging strikes and protest marches and calling for punitive measures against Egypt. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, vowed to oust all Americans from the Middle East.
Israelis were beckoned to celebrate the signing of the treaty with a fireworks display and band music outside Tel Aviv's City Hall. But many pensively recalled the three decades of war and bloodshed and expressed uncertainty over achieving real peace. Egyptians reflected relief and satisfaction on the first day of peace with Israel, but with none of the euphoria they showed when President Sadat went to Israel 16 months ago.
Arab anger over the treaty cannot reverse the peace process for now, but it can do much to isolate Egypt, make it impossible for Israel to be accepted in the rest of the Middle East, and seriously affect American relations with the region. This is the consensus of a wide survey of Arab leaders, diplomats and journalists.
[New York Times] - Mystery over Idi Amin's whereabouts deepened after Radio Uganda said that the President was cut off from most of his troops as he prepared to face an invading force of Tanzanians and Ugandan exiles. The report drew skepticism from diplomats and others. [New York Times]
- An article on the hydrogen bomb was barred from publication in The Progressive magazine by a federal district court judge. He granted the government's motion after his suggestion for an out-of-court settlement was rejected. He thus became the first federal judge ever to issue an injunction imposing prior restraint on the press in a national security case. [New York Times]
- Review of an execution sentence was denied by the Supreme Court. John Spenkelink, who was sentenced for murder, may become the first person in the country to be executed since Gary Gilmore was killed by a Utah firing squad in 1977. Gov. Bob Graham of Florida has said he will consider granting executive clemency. [New York Times]
- A computer bank thief was sentenced to eight years in prison . Stanley Rifkin, a computer expert, had admitted stealing $10.2 million from a Los Angeles bank. While he was freed on bail, he became involved in the planned theft of up to $50 million from another bank. That plot was reportedly engineered by an informer for a federal drug agency as part of an effort to obtain the informer's release from a federal prison. [New York Times]
- A Teamsters strike is likely this weekend, the union indicated. It took legal action to block a Taft-Hartley injunction in the event a walkout was called. The union asked a federal court for permission to question government officials under oath to gather data to prove that a strike would not constitute a national emergency. [New York Times]
- The bomb blast at Kennedy Airport Sunday evening led to a major search for two anti-Castro Cuban refugees. An F.B.I. official said that previous bombings in New York and New Jersey for which an underground group called Omega 7 took responsibility had occurred at times and places where injuries were unlikely. But the bomb in a suitcase at the airport exploded just before it was to have been loaded on an airliner carrying 155 persons. [New York Times]
- An occupied town is chafing under Israeli control. Since a rock-throwing demonstration erupted in the West Bank community of Halhoul on March 15, all 13,000 residents have been under house arrest and a 23-hour-a-day curfew has been in effect. [New York Times]
- China's "lesson" to Vietnam, in punishing Hanoi's intervention in Cambodia, has taken a heavy toll. A visit covering thousands of miles around the frontier battle zones revealed only ruins and destruction. [New York Times]
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 854.82 (-4.93, -0.57%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| March 23, 1979 | 859.75 | 101.60 | 33.58 |
| March 22, 1979 | 861.31 | 101.67 | 34.36 |
| March 21, 1979 | 857.76 | 101.25 | 31.12 |
| March 20, 1979 | 850.31 | 100.50 | 27.18 |
| March 19, 1979 | 857.59 | 101.06 | 34.62 |
| March 16, 1979 | 852.82 | 100.69 | 31.77 |
| March 15, 1979 | 847.02 | 99.86 | 29.37 |
| March 14, 1979 | 845.37 | 99.71 | 24.65 |
| March 13, 1979 | 846.93 | 99.84 | 31.17 |
| March 12, 1979 | 844.68 | 99.67 | 25.75 |